VANCOUVER - Lundin Mining Corp.'s (TSX:LUN) stock rose more than seven per cent Friday, a day after the Vancouver-based miner reported a 51 per cent increase in first-quarter profit and said it has sold 90 per cent of its stake in the Norrliden deposit.
Shares in the company were up 60 cents at $8.98 with more than 3.9 million changing hands on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
On Thursday, a subsidiary of the company agreed to sell the stake in the Norrliden poly-metallic deposit in Sweden to Gold-Ore Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GOZ) for three million shares, worth about $2.25 million at Gold-Ore's Friday trading price of 75 cents.
Gold-Ore agreed to pay $2.5 million more and issue $2 million worth of shares if a production decision is made.
Stockholm-based IGE Nordic AB holds the remaining 10 per cent stake in Norrliden.
Lundin reported a first-quarter profit of US$78.8 million, 20 cents per share, on higher copper and lead prices, compared with a profit of US$52.1 million or' cents per share in the year-ago period.
UBS Securities analyst Brian MacArthur called Lundin a "diversified high-growth producer in a favourable commodity environment," in a note to clients Friday, as the brokerage maintained its "buy" rating for the stock and left its 12-month price target unchanged at $10.50.
"Lundin is a well-diversified company with potential growth," MacArthur wrote.
"The 2007 acquisition of Aguablanca added nickel to their commodity mix. Also, the 2007 acquisition of Tenke provided longer term growth in copper/cobalt, leaving Lundin with exposure to: copper, nickel and zinc, as well as lead, cobalt and precious metals."
The company reported first-quarter sales of $305.7 million, up 58 per cent from $193.9 million in the same quarter last year as stronger copper and lead prices offset declines for zinc and nickel.
Sales were also augmented by last July's acquisition of the Aguablanca mine.
Lundin is diversified base metals mining company with operations in Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Ireland. The company merged with EuroZinc Mining Corp. in 2006 and acquired Rio Narcea Gold Mines last year in a deal valued at $925 million.
During the past two years, Lundin has made a number of other significant corporate transactions including a $1.4-billion stock-swap deal to acquire Tenke Mining Corp.
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